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Hope this helps someone as it got me out of a pickle.
Brake light was on all the time as the the front brake lever was not pushing the switch enough. After taking the brake cylinder and lever off from the bars it seems the rubber boot on the end of the switch was damaged and the inside of the lever no longer pressed the switch. I will need to get a new switch but this being a Sunday the local dealer was closed.
As a stop gap, I used Araldite to fix a tiny (3mm?) nut to the end of the switch that was exposed where the boot was missing. I gave the Araldite time to harden & then re-assembled the brake lever being careful to ensure the nut remained in place. I used a washer to hold the brake lever slightly de-pressed when being assembled.
Everything worked fine & even after a ride the switch was still working!
I hope the pic shows the nut fixed in place; it looks big in the pic but was so small it was hard to hold! Sorry the pic is a bit crap.
I'll say this, a brake light that stays on is usually a bad master cylinder that needs rebuilding and not the switch unless someone has screwed it up at re-assembling without placing a temporary spacer at the lever as not to damage the brake switch. Master cyclinders get corroded and the plungers do not fully release causing the switch to not work properly. You'll still have brakes if this happens, just not a working brake light. It will stay on.
Last edited by Tampa Fatboy; Oct 17, 2016 at 03:41 PM.
I'll say this, a brake light that stays on is usually a bad master cylinder that needs rebuilding and not the switch unless someone has screwed it up at re-assembling without placing a temporary spacer at the lever as not to damage the brake switch.
I guess switch was damaged by the previous owner as the boot covering the switch was torn. The lever and master cylinder appear to be moving correctly and even with the lever at the end of it's travel the switch was not pressed enough to operate.
I guess switch was damaged by the previous owner as the boot covering the switch was torn. The lever and master cylinder appear to be moving correctly and even with the lever at the end of it's travel the switch was not pressed enough to operate.
You caught the prob, that's what counts. Quite a few folks run across the same thing, I was just offering the flip side of the coin.
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Front brake switch permanently on!
